The Lost Canyon Community of Aztec Park

For years now, I’ve received queries about abandoned cabins and foundations way up high in Haines Canyon, just over the border of Tujunga. I’ve even been sent photos of extensive foundation work half hidden by brush. Apparently, this was the tiny community of Aztec Park.

Some background: In the 1880s, when La Crescenta and Tujunga were first being settled, early residents staked out their homes close to what little water flowed into the valleys. In La Crescenta, Pickens and Briggs located themselves on the stream of Pickens Canyon while in Tujunga the small community of Glorietta Heights formed on the stream coming from Haines Canyon. Early settler Phil Begue claimed the water rights in the canyon and built a dam and reservoir that watered the orchards and vineyards below. The Begue family and others built little cabins along the stream higher up in Haines Canyon. Later, in the 1920s, the Haines Canyon Water Company bought the water rights and developed an extensive water system for the growing community of Tujunga. As well, a gravel quarry was opened in the canyon and I’ve been told workers for that and the water company had cabins there. This cluster of cabins was apparently called Aztec Park.

All that remains today are clues. A 1933 topo map shows several roads in upper Haines Canyon. The map indicates 10 structures along these roads. A very old road sign in the Little Landers Historical Society’s museum points the way to “Aztec Park – 2 miles.” Even the modern online Google satellite view names a trail in the upper reaches of Haines Canyon “Azteca Spur.”

I’ve collected snippets of memories from old-timers.

“Phil Begue and his father had a cabin or camp in Haines Canyon as did some of the other East Glorietta Heights early timers. That was in the late 1800s when these folks built their cabins up there.”

“I think the dam keeper and water company people lived up there.”

“At Aztec Park in Haines Canyon the foundations of some cottages were damaged as a result of the 13 inches of rain that fell in one seven-day period [in 1921]. The minimum damage sustained was due to the efficiency of the check dams that were installed in 1914.”

“The only thing I heard from my parents was that the late ’30s flood washed away cabins.”

“…in the early 1960s there were remnants of the old Haines Canyon water company still there. Part way up the canyon was an abandoned cabin with a very old rusty car parked next to it. The brush fire in 1975 destroyed all this.”

I had heard that a group of mountain bikers had cleared some of the foundations so I hiked up to view the area. It’s an easy couple of miles hike up Haines Canyon. At a certain point, the main trail leaves the canyon and heads up toward Mt. Lukens. But I kept to the trail to the left following the canyon and walked on an engineered mountain bike course, with banked curves and jumps. About 500 yards up from there one can see the cleared area, marked by much stonework, on the north side of the canyon. I actually followed the overgrown remains of an old asphalt road toward the cleared area.

The foundations are huge, consisting of seven or eight large oak-shaded terraces. Tall stone retaining walls front each terrace and stone steps allow access to the level above. It looks much like a huge terraced yard where there may have been orchards at one time. Stone walls wind off into the underbrush, promising more mysterious stonework. Kudos to the mountain bikers who cleared this area of overgrowth. It must have been a huge job.

This is the perfect time of year to hike up there and I urge you to get out there and explore. There must be more foundations like this in the heavy overgrowth of this canyon. No doubt a future brush fire will reveal more. In the meantime, we are left guessing about the true size and history of the lost community of Aztec Park.